JNU VC Jagadesh Kumar: '5-member panel formed to probe Jan 5 violence on campus'

Jawaharlal Nehru University has formed a five-member committee to probe the January 5 violence on the campus that reportedly left around 35 people injured, and recommend measures to ensure the safety of students, Vice-Chancellor M Jagadesh Kumar said on Thursday, January 9. The panel will also probe lapses in security if any, Kumar told a news agency.

VC Kumar met HRD Ministry officials 

The HRD Ministry on Wednesday suggested to JNU VC Kumar to become more communicative with students, take faculty into confidence and facilitate the semester registration process, days after violence ran amok on the university campus. Human Resource Development Ministry officials met Kumar and told him normalcy should be restored at the earliest, a senior Ministry official said. The official also said the VC has been advised to be more communicative with students and take the faculty into confidence.

Kumar, who has been severely criticised by students and faculty members for not doing enough when they were brutally attacked by a masked mob on campus grounds on Sunday evening, told Ministry officials that efforts were being made to facilitate the semester registration process for "willing" students.

The VC later took to Twitter to inform about the meeting. On Monday, a day after violence broke out on JNU campus, the university's Registrar Pramod Kumar visited the Ministry and updated the top brass about the situation besides submitting a detailed report of the sequence of events that led to further violence. Kumar did not attend the meeting.

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Violence at JNU

A group of masked people armed with sticks and rods attacked students and teachers and damaged property on the campus on Sunday, prompting the university administration to call in the police. At least 35 people, including JNU Students' Union president Aishe Ghosh, were injured in the violence. They were admitted to AIIMS Trauma Centre and discharged on Monday. 

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The Left-controlled JNUSU and the ABVP have blamed each other for the violence that continued for two hours. That night, the HRD Ministry sought an immediate report from the registrar. HRD Minister Ramesh Pokhriyal 'Nishank,' said in Bhubaneswar on Monday that educational institutions cannot be allowed to become "political adda". He vowed "strong action" against the perpetrators of the violence on JNU campus.

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(With PTI inputs)